47 RS Aeros are greeted by the arrival of spring at Oxford!

by RS Aero UK Class Association on 22 Feb 2017

RS Aeros at the Oxford Blue - RS Aero UK Winter Championships 2017 Tim Olin

What a weekend! An incredible 47 RS Aeros entered The Oxford Blue which included the 2017 RS Aero UK Winter Championships. We had seen fleets of about 40 at events in the late autumn but we would never have anticipated 47 in February with so many committing a long way in advance!

The wind was light and inevitably there were challenges around the course. However with a nice five - ten knots there was always good racing to be had with occasional hiking and even the odd moments of planing! The mild late February weather compensated admirably.

The RS Aeros packed out the middle start with almost a third of the total 147 boat entry. Wind shift and pressure chasing were the game of the day, together with the ability to exit the start line in good shape. With such a fleet there was competition throughout and always opportunities to be spotted and taken on each leg.

RS Aeros at the Oxford Blue - RS Aero UK Winter Championships 2017 © Tim Olin

In race one Peter Barton (Lymington) overtook Peter Chaplin (Burghfield) to win the RS Aeros. David Ellis (Lymington) was first RS Aero 7 with Hannah Snellgrove (Lymington) second. Emily Davis (Great Moor) came in first in the RS Aero 5s.

Race two was the biggest RS Aero success with 6 RS Aeros in the top 12 overall from the 135 starters! Liam Willis (Lymington) led the RS Aeros home taking a brilliant third overall in the race with Chris Larr (Northampton) close behind in fifth overall. First RS Aero 7 was 49er helm Nick Redding (Goring) in 10th overall and Alice Lucy (Rutland) finished first RS Aero 5.

Ben Rolfe leads Liam Willis in race 3 - RS Aero UK Winter Championships 2017 © Tim Olin

The RS Aeros struggled more in race three, but this time the RS Aero 7s faired very well against the 9s. After a warp speed start off the favoured end our coach, Paul Robson (Reading), in his RS Aero 7 never looked back keeping pace with the lead 9s to take the yardstick win in the RS Aeros. Top RS Aero 9 this time was RS Sailing’s Ben Rolfe 9Burghfield who narrowly pipped Liam. Emily was ahead again in the RS Aero 5s.

Overall in The Oxford Blue Peter Barton was lead RS Aero and the first boat of the middle ‘B’ start in 15th, just ahead of Peter Chaplin. Paul Robson was first RS Aero 7 and Emily Davis lead RS Aero 5.

For the RS Aero UK Winter Champs we take the RS Aero results out from each race which leads to similar, but slightly different, results once you remove all the other classes who finished in between the RS Aeros on corrected time. In an incredibly tight finish the RS Aero Winter Championship was won by a point by 16 year old Liam Willis giving a very mature display of skill in the tricky conditions. If Liam can now win in light conditions we are all in trouble, we already know he is fast when it is windy! Just a point behind was a three way tie with Peter Barton sneaking it from Peter Chaplin and then Chris Larr.

In the RS Aero 7s Paul Robson ended top of the pile. A great performance by Lucy Greenwood (Oxford) (has team race training sharpened her game?) gave her second with current RS Aero 7 National Champ, David Ellis, having to settle for third on this occasion.

Top Lady was Lucy Greenwood and top Master Peter Chaplin. Naturally top Youth was Liam Willis! Lymington Town SC toped the Club competition with Liam sowing the way to the old blokes, rather than playing anchorman this time!

Emily took the RS Aero 5s, with Alice and Natasha not too far behind.

Hannah Snellgrove at the Oxford Blue - RS Aero UK Winter Championships 2017 © Tim Olin

It was fantastic to see Andy Rice, the founder of the SailJuice Series, out in an RS Aero having fun. He was improving in every race and perhaps just needed a couple more! Hannah Snellgrove was on the water as part of the coaching team passing on help before racing and between races to those enrolled on the following day’s training. On the Sunday nineteen of the RS Aeros stayed at Oxford for our monthly Winter Training with Hannah Snellgrove and Paul Robson coaching the day and Ben supporting.

Thanks to Oxford SC, SailRacer and SailJuice for a great event and another fantastic SailJuice Winter Series. Spring is here and after a calm winter we can turn the fans back on now!

RS Aero UK Winter Championships 2017 © Tim Olin

The Oxford Blue was also Round 7 of the RS Aero Winter Series. The next round is this Sunday at Devon’s Roadford Rocket with about 10 RS Aeros already committed. Then the Exmoor Beastie is at Wimbleball SC and the grande finale is the RS Aero UK Spring Champs at Island Barn Res SC, both in March.

Keep in touch with Everything Aero via; the Class website and Facebook group.

Results:

Rank	Sail	Helm	Club	Class	Rating	R1	R2	R3	Total	Nett
1	1551	Liam WILLIS	Lymington Town SC	RS Aero 9	1028	-7	1	3	11	4
2	2093	Peter BARTON	Lymington Town SC	RS Aero 9	1028	1	4	(48 DNC)	53	5
3	2162	Peter CHAPLIN	Burghfield SC	RS Aero 9	1028	2	3	-5	10	5
4	1888	Chris LARR	Northampton SC	RS Aero 9	1028	3	2	-17	22	5
5	2161	Paul ROBSON	Reading SC	RS Aero 7	1066	-22	7	1	30	8
6	2152	Ben ROLFE	Burghfield SC	RS Aero 9	1028	6	-11	2	19	8
7	2157	Nigel ROLFE	Burghfield SC	RS Aero 9	1028	4	6	-10	20	10
8	1685	Lucy GREENWOOD	Oxford SC	RS Aero 7	1066	-15	8	4	27	12
9	1209	David ELLIS	Lymington Town SC	RS Aero 7	1066	5	10	-11	26	15
10	1964	Nick REDDING	Goring	RS Aero 7	1066	10	5	-16	31	15
11	999	Andy Rice	Stokes Bay SC	RS Aero 9	1028	-18	9	8	35	17
12	1676	Anthony YORK	Northampton SC	RS Aero 9	1028	9	-12	9	30	18
13	1156	James DICKINSON	Datchet Water SC	RS Aero 7	1066	12.5	-19	6	37.5	18.5
14	2147	John WARBURTON	Chew Valley Lake SC	RS Aero 7	1066	-15	13	7	35	20
15	2001	Hannah SNELLGROVE	Lymington Town SC	RS Aero 7	1066	8	-28	19	55	27
16	2126	Graham ILES	Burghfield SC	RS Aero 9	1028	11	20	-35	66	31
17	1302	Karl THORNE	Lymington Town SC	RS Aero 7	1066	-20	17	14	51	31
18	2146	James CLAPHAM	Royal Torbay YC	RS Aero 9	1028	17	14	-30	61	31
19	1566	Tim HIRE	Royal Lymington YC	RS Aero 7	1066	15	-25	18	58	33
20	2135	Oliver Burdall	Rollesby SC	RS Aero 9	1028	-23	21	13	57	34
21	2114	Fernando GAMBOA	Lee on the Solent SC	RS Aero 9	1028	-24	15	20	59	35
22	1694	Nick NEVE	Rutland SC	RS Aero 7	1066	12.5	24	-29	65.5	36.5
23	2141	Steve SHARP	Reading SC	RS Aero 7	1066	-32	26	12	70	38
24	1505	Tim FELLS	Salcombe YC	RS Aero 7	1066	26	16	(48 DNC)	90	42
25	1817	Chris JONES	Sutton Bingham SC	RS Aero 7	1066	20	-32	23	75	43
26	1258	Nick CRAVEN	Yorkshire Dales SC	RS Aero 7	1066	-27	18	26	71	44
27	1108	Charlie PEARCE	Dabchicks	RS Aero 7	1066	20	-34	25	79	45
28	1745	John HOBSON	Notts County SC	RS Aero 7	1066	25	23	(48 OCS)	96	48
29	1568	Caitlin ATKIN	Whitstable YC	RS Aero 7	1066	-29.5	22	27	78.5	49
30	1457	David MAHONY	Lymington Town SC	RS Aero 7	1066	(48 OCS)	29	22	99	51
31	1181	Roger BELTON	Felpham SC	RS Aero 7	1066	-34	31	21	86	52
32	1264	Jackie CRAVEN	Yorkshire Dales SC	RS Aero 7	1066	28	-33	31	92	59
33	1301	Emily DAVIS	Great Moor SC	RS Aero 5	1107	36.5	-39	24	99.5	60.5
34	2055	Chris WOOLLEY	Combs SC	RS Aero 9	1028	31	30	-32	93	61
35	1370	Nev HERBERT	Royal Lymington YC	RS Aero 7	1066	(48 OCS)	48 OCS	15	111	63
36	2074	Matt EVANS	Great Moor SC	RS Aero 7	1066	-35	35	28	98	63
37	1153	David OUGHTON	Oxford SC	RS Aero 7	1066	29.5	-36	34	99.5	63.5
38	1921	Charles CLAPHAM	Chew Valley LSC	RS Aero 7	1066	33	-37	33	103	66
39	1001	Mark LEWIS	Oxford SC	RS Aero 7	1066	36.5	-40	36	112.5	72.5
40	1744	Matt THURSFIELD	Chelmarsh SC	RS Aero 9	1028	(48 RET)	27	48 DNC	123	75
41	2134	Alice LUCY	Rutland SC	RS Aero 5	1107	-38	38	37	113	75
42	1175	Natasha SION	Warsash SC	RS Aero 5	1107	39	-41	38	118	77
43	1582	Mark ROLFE	Upton Warren SC	RS Aero 7	1066	40	-42	39	121	79
44	1502	Jon HARVEY	Keyhaven YC	RS Aero 7	1066	(48 DNC)	(48 DNC)	(48 DNC)	144	96
44	1792	Andy HILL	Hayling Island SC	RS Aero 7	1066	(48 DNC)	(48 DNC)	(48 DNC)	144	96
44	1509	Peter CRAGGS	York RI SC	RS Aero 7	1066	(48 DNC)	(48 DNC)	(48 DNC)	144	96
44	1581	Steve STEWART	Yorkshire Dales SC	RS Aero 7	1066	(48 DNC)	(48 DNC)	(48 DNC)	144	96